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Arika Gottama
Originally from Old Earth, Arika Gottama is an immensely powerful warrior representing the Street Fighter Universe, an alternate dimension that coexists with two other fighting universes: Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Primary love interest of Sharon (and later Nanase) and the sworn enemy of General Bison, Arika protects Earth 2 in conjunction with his two best friends Bandai and Capcom as the Immortal Fighters. Statistics Full name: Arika Gottama Other names: N/A Born: 24th September 2025 Age: 31 Occupation: Unclear Nationality: Russian-American Allies: Bandai, Capcom, Sharon, Asuka Kazama, Vanessa Lewis Enemies: General Bison, Garuda, Kazuya Mishima, Yoshimitsu, Kinos, Nanase (formerly, deceased) Powers/abilities: Mastery over mixed martial arts, enhanced senses, enhanced durability and endurance, athletic prowess Weaknesses: Overwhelming attacks, energy can be depleted over the course of battle, equally skilled opponents Fighting style(s): Advanced MMA Signature attack(s): Three Point Kick, German Suplex, Sweep, Stepping Punch Weapon(s): Knife, staff Height: 6' 1" Weight: 250 lbs Hair colour: Light brown Eye colour: Green Skin colour: White Personal theme(s): Skillet - "Sick of It", Green Day - "Know Your Enemy" Quote: "If you think this is a game, then get ready to lose" First appearance: Immortal Fighters #1 - "Arika" Final appearance: Immortal Fighters: Last Stand Voiced by: Matthew Mercer Character Overview Originally from Old Earth, Arika Gottama is an immensely powerful warrior hailing from the Street Fighter Universe, an alternate dimension that co-exists with two other fighting universes: Virtua Fighter and Tekken. Primary love interest of Sharon (and later Nanase) and the sworn enemy of General Bison, Arika protects Earth 2 in conjunction with his two best friends Bandai and Capcom as the Immortal Fighters. Character Biography Childhood and Street Fighter Induction Arika Gottama is a 31 year old martial artist born to unknown parents and initially raised on the original Earth, which was made uninhabitable by forces unknown causing the young Arika and the rest of Earth's population to be relocated to a new planet named Earth 2. On this planet, a teenage Arika was selected by Pullum Purna to join the Street Fighter roster after she saw his burning potential as a martial artist training in three forms of combat simultaneously. Arika was introduced to the Street Fighter Universe and made good friends with the majority of its combatants (particularly Sharon, with whom he would later be romantically involved), but before he could fight professionally he had to be specially trained over a 3 month period, a regime which granted him numerous abilities such as enhanced senses, durability and endurance and his athletic prowess among others. First Fight and General Bison Incident It was after this training regimen that Arika was deemed worthy to compete in the yearly World Warrior Tournament, an annual fighting competition in which all Street Fighter combatants take part with one being crowned that year's champion at the end. Arika entered the World Warrior Tournament with his friend Sharon in his corner, and the first to face him was the fiercely strong General Bison in an opening fight that was little short of one sided, with Arika barely managing to hold his own despite his enhanced capabilities and being defeated before the 5 minute mark suffering from a broken foot and leg along with numerous cuts and bruises. While being tended to by Sharon in his recovery, Arika requested that she keep training him in preparation for an eventual surprise rematch with Bison, but Sharon denied, saying if Bison didn't kill him before, he would next time. After Arika coldly accepted the reality behind Sharon's reasoning, he went off to train by himself anyway, but what he didn't know was that Sharon refused to train him because she harboured secret romantic feelings for him and was trying to protect him. Solo Training and a New Power After the Bison defeat Arika began training more fiercely than before and also began utilising his inner strength as well, connecting with an internal power which he unlocked when he pushed himself past his potential. With this solitary training complete, Arika found that he had gained a new form which posessed almost demon level powers such as flight, energy projection and the ability to make his whole body into a weapon, something he dubbed the Nether State. Arika felt that this was the right time to face Bison again, which he did when Bison confronted him at an abandoned airstrip and wasted no time coming to blows following taunts referring to their previous meeting. Second Bison Battle and Near Death In the long and lengthy battle that followed Arika and Bison matched one another's power level blow for blow, with Arika tapping into his life-sapping battle form at a crucial moment in the fight when Bison unleashed his own evil energy he called Psycho Power. Now with the two combatants relying on their own respective power sources, the battle became more akin to a magical duel that almost tore down the airstrip around them, eventually resulting in Arika emerging as the victor by a very close margin, but at a grave cost. It was at this point Arika realised that no human was meant to have the kind of power that won him the fight, and just moments before his Battle Form killed him he expelled every ounce of the powerful energy and soon blacked out because of the damage he had done to his mind and body. Or at least he thought he did. Recovery When Arika later awoke he found himself in a hospital on Earth 2 with his heart rate and brain activity being monitored, but perhaps more alarming was the memory loss he sustained that rendered him unable to remember what occured in the battle. He also gained a scar that ran diagonally right across his face, which he now refers to as "a souvenir of the time I let my power get the better of me". Arika could not remember anything about the battle or why it happened, only that it did for some reason, but what he could remember was Bison. Against doctor's orders, Arika checked himself out of the hospital and got on his way, where he vowed to get answers one way or another. Immortal Fighters In due course Arika made it to a megacity named Silver City in search of Bison related information with an improving but still fragmented mind, where he encountered a woman from his hardly memorised past: Sharon, for whom Arika felt some strong unidentified feelings for reason he couldn't recall (yet). Sharon had heard of Arika's second fight with Bison, a story which was now making its rounds through the Street Fighter Universe, and felt somewhat sorry for him after learning of the intensity of his epic battle. Sharon realised that Arika needed a guide, so she became his informant on the movements of other Street Fighter combatants. Through Sharon, Arika learned that Bison had joined forces with two other villains named Kinos (Virtua Fighter) and Kazuya (Tekken), holing up in a secluded base near one of Silver City's waterfalls which belonged to the former. After training up his rusty skills, Arika began to make his way to the waterfall where he encountered two other combatants from the other fighting universes: Capcom, the cocky but highly skilled martial artist from the Virtua Fighter Universe and Bandai, the pacifist Tekken ninja with not much to say. Three Become One Arika and Capcom got off to a bad start (to say the least) with the former taking offence to the latter's brash nature and conceited personality, almost leading to a fistfight that was stopped in the nick of time by Bandai, who had been watching them from a distance. After tensions had simmered, the three men took some time to introduce themselves to one another and explain their intentions at the base: Bandai was searching for answers as to his past and Capcom was tracking down a missing comrade. Capcom reasoned that they would need a solid plan for entering the base as they anticipated that whoever was inside wouldn't give them an easy time, but conflicts rose again over Arika, Bandai and Capcom's differing strategies. While the three men were distracted with their argument, none of them noticed a black sulphury being materialise out of nowhere and levitate behind Bandai, after which it proceeded to plunge a long dark blade into the latter's back before discarding the latter's body off the side of the waterfall. This forced Arika and Capcom to part ways temporarily, as they both believed Bandai to be dead, and make their own respective ways into the base with Arika under the belief that they would both rejoin each other's company once inside, but Capcom had no intention of working with Arika, stating that being around the latter invited death. Arika was frustrated with the way Capcom was, but he soon had other things on his mind when he came face to face with Bison. Arika spent around half a minute listening to Bison monologue about their previous encounter at the airfield, with each sentence bringing back memories that Arika had failed to retain when he awoke in the hospital. Bison then inquired about Arika's reasons for tracking him down, with Arika replying that his associate Sharon gave him reason to believe that Bison was planning something that Arika intented to stop. Bison laughed at Arika, calling his reasons foolish and convoluted, after which the two of them prepared for another battle which was stopped when Bison was assaulted from behind by the healed Bandai, who said that he wished to return the favour of friendliness that Arika exhibited at the top of the waterfall. Arika and Bandai took this opportunity to evade Bison and search for Capcom, which wasn't going to be easy given the complexity of the base's interior. It was during this search that Arika inquired about Bandai's survival of his attack, with Bandai stating that even he wasn't too sure; he simply slipped into near unconsciousness and was revived/healed at the last moment by what he believed were Entities. Bandai also stated that while he was grateful he didn't die, he was still dreading coming into contact with Kazuya, though this was something he had to do since the latter was probably the only one who had answers to Bandai's fragmented past. While Arika and Bandai scoured the base's interior for Capcom, the latter was in fact near enough in the center of the base and had located his friend, Evann, albeit a little too late. Evann had been tortured by Kinos for various pieces of information and died of his injuries, filling Capcom with sorrow and anger as he realised more and more that his friend was dead just as Arika and Bandai located Capcom. Capcom swore that he would make Kinos pay for what he did to Evann, at which point Bandai and Arika consoled the former by saying that he should use his friend's death as a source of motivation instead of a distraction, which Capcom said he would try and do after thanking the two for risking their lives to make sure Capcom didn't lose his. Arika made a point to say that the three of them should be on high alert since all three of their rivals were in the base, with which Capcom and Bandai agreed. It didn't take long for Bison and Kinos to track down Arika, Bandai and Capcom, with an ensuing monologue from Bison confirming Arika's suspicions that he had a plan for mass destruction first across Silver City and then across all 3 fighting universes. Arika didn't know what this plan was or what it encompassed but he swore to Bison that he would not let him carry it out, which made the latter laugh at Arika's futile words, after which a battle ensued between Arika, Bison, Capcom, Bandai and Kinos. Arika disposed of Bison suspiciously quickly, after which he turned his attention to battling Kinos with Capcom and Bandai. Kinos seemed impressed with Arika's strength and techniques, which made him tap into more of his fearsome power, almost destroying the base around them in a high-octane climax to the battle with Arika, Bandai and Capcom seemingly emerging victorious. Arika and Bandai were relieved to think they had won but Capcom was still wary, bidding farewell to the former two fighters and leaving the scene still on high-alert, promising that their paths would cross again soon. A Friendship Formed Sure enough, in due course Capcom contacted Arika and Bandai through their respective universal representatives (Pullum Purna and Nina Williams) to ask about them being his in his corner in the upcoming Virtua Fighter pay-per-view, where he was scheduled to face wrestler Wolf Hawkfield. Bandai more or less accepted but Arika declined, saying he had his own Street Fighter battles to contemplate, although he did state that he would be watching Capcom's efforts on TV; the fight ended in disaster for Capcom, when he was hit with a devastating attack from Hawkfield. Meeting up with Arika and Bandai the next day, the slightly humiliated Capcom conveyed the theory that there was someone attending the fight trying to distract him. Arika expressed some skepticism at Capcom's suspicions, humorously suggesting that Capcom's ego was merely damaged but the latter remained adamant, and Arika's attitude changed when Capcom suggested that the suspected person was Kinos. Capcom left Arika and Bandai with this thought but advised them to live and fight carefully, saying that he expected Kinos to try and do the same to them. False Death and Untimely Return Throughout the course of Season 1, Arika, Bandai and Capcom are shown battling their rivals and unravelling plots and schemes set in motion in the name of destruction, all the while dealing with personal and interpersonal affairs such as Arika's growing relationship with Sharon and Bandai's shady and mysterious origins. The ultimate test of the Fighters' friendship, however, comes at the end of Season 1 when Arika is seemingly killed by Bison in a penultimate superpowered battle, shattering trust and questioning loyalty, but not all is as it seems with Arika's "death". The start of Season 2 revealed Arika alive and well and living in Detroit, Michigan with his new romantic partner Nanase (also a Street Fighter combatant), with the damage inflicted upon him by Bison in the latter season's end merely killing his Nether State power (or so he thought). Arika seemed to have no intention of returning to Silver City, appearing settled in Detroit with Nanase but the whole thing was a ruse, as he suspected that Nanase was working with Bison who knew that Arika wasn't really dead and was keeping tabs on him through Nanase. Arika wasn't present when Bison launched an attack on Silver City's industrial district with Kinos, Kazuya and Nanase, with Bandai and Capcom trying to fend off their rivals despite knowing they would more than likely fail without Arika. Arika turned up at the crucial point, however, to confirm his suspicions that Nanase was indeed an ally of Bison, leaving Capcom, Bandai and their allies speechless; Arika lightly explained that he had a plan all along, and that carrying it out was the only way he could prove what Bison and Nanase were up to. Nevertheless, Bandai, Capcom and their allies were still hurt that Arika left them (which the latter could understand), but they all knew they had a battle at hand which needed to be taken care of. Now the Immortal Fighters again, Arika, Bandai and Capcom quickly turned the tide in the battle and gained the upper hand against their enemies, with Arika dealing with Nanase personally. It was at this point Arika's Nether State returned, with him using his pain and anguish caused by Nanase's betrayal to fuel it, resulting in him possibly going too far and killing the former. This caused Bison and the others to retreat, while Arika and his friends went home still in some denial and shock at Arika's murder of Nanase. Training w/ Himself -Basic to advanced Commando Sambo, Systema and Bojutsu training w/ Pullum Purna -Intense labour develops superhuman ability w/ Sharon -Trains endurance, opponent anticipation, senses, meditation and precision w/ Dhalsim -Trains flexibility and elasticity w/ Ken & Ryu -Advanced spirit training and technique fluidity Appearance Arika is a tall man with a muscular build, a slightly tanned complexion, light brown hair, green eyes and a square shaped face with a pronounced jawline. For his Season One design, he was given thin, sharp facial features and big, well kept hair along with an instantly recognizable deep scar that runs from the top of his right eyebrow to the bottom of his left cheek. As ''Immortal Fighters ''progresses, Arika's design undergoes many great changes. By the time of Season Four he is still tall and muscular, but his hair is buzzed on the sides and around the back but still with some hair on the top of his crown. His face also appears more aged, worn and serious, as if he has seen much combat. His face scar looks thinner but still immediately distinct. He also gains a new scar that stretches across his chest in the opposite direction to his face scar. Arika's creator D.W. Worth stated "...the first thing one would think if they met Arika face-to-face would be 'this guy's seen some stuff.' " In terms of costumes, Arika has one main outfit that he has predominantly worn since Season One which consists of faded blue slim-fit jeans, a plain white t-shirt, a green hoodie and a pair of black Converse All-Stars. He may change this costume only two or three times a season depending on a certain situation, but he has never changed it permanently. Personality In regards to Arika's personality, his creator D.W. Worth stated "he's calculated, but not cold. He's straighforward, but not blunt, I guess 'down-to-business' would be the best phrase to use". In Season One, Arika seemed to work off his own secret agenda while seeming to humour others by going with their ideas, and almost used military-like tactical intelligence by going through the motions in a plan of his, seeing what action would lead to which outcome and choosing a by-the-book method of leaving the world around him untouched. As he grew closer to Bandai and Capcom, however, he shed his assassin-like methods and began working in conjunction with others to form a battle plan that would best suit them. Nevertheless, he still maintains a down-to-business attitude to getting things done and keeps details in mind. Vanessa Lewis, a military ally to the Immortal Fighters, seems to relish the opportunity to work with Arika due to his attitude to work and similarities in their mentalities, and vice versa, with Vanessa remarking that "practical minds tend to think alike". Arika gives off a bodyguard-like aura and looks like an uneasy person to get along with, but this has been proven to be a mere facade and is actually an understanding, friendly soul. Arika himself has said that first impressions of people determine his attitude towards them from there on, while Mila once said to him "you look mean enough to punch down a tree, but you're just like being with my father." While in combat, Arika keeps a lid on his emotions and retains a sense of the task ahead, not allowing himself to get caught up in the heat of battle. He also tends not to overthink what he is doing while fighting. Fighting Style Arika has a reputation as a formulaic and almost OCD kind of fighter, preferring to stick to maybe 2 sets of 5 fighting moves in any given battle situation, but this does not mean he is a limited fighter as he will up his game once he sees what his opponent can do. He is also known for his somewhat freakish strength as a fighter too, once having his punching and kicking power measured at 850 lbs, as he would rather train up his strength rather than improve and expand his fighting form. But there are areas in his form which could be improved upon, like his movement for instance, as Arika is the kind of fighter who will try to push his opponent forward rather than play their game and share the battleground. But there are few who can stand up to Arika's strength, so to him there is no point in playing their game; only in his big battles against the likes of maybe General Bison or Kinos does he fully unleash his martial arts prowess and give his opponent something to think about. In his darkest of battles, however, there is one inhibition that Arika has very little control over: one remaining shard of his Nether State energy which, if given enough strength, will grow and overtake every fiber of Arika's being and turn him into a ruthless biological machine with the sole purpose of defeating everyone who happens to be in front of him. When Arika is at this power level, it is hard for him to listen to reason as he basically just loses control, which is why he avoids long, drawn out battles and sticks to the basics, only stepping up to the mark if necessary. As far as styles go, Arika is a somewhat eclectic warrior as he has spent his entire life learning and mixing his favourite styles such as Kickboxing, Savate and Taekwondo. Even his fighting stance seems like a mixture of starting poses from different styles, with the high open guard of Muay Thai with the firm and rooted foot stance of maybe Wing Chun or Hapkido. When trading blows with his opponent, Arika doesn't like to overthink the details of technique, once stating in passing to Capcom that he doesn't recognise how to strike and that it is an unconditional movement. The kicks and punches that Arika throws do vary and have some resemblance to the styles he has learned and taken in, almost switching styles with every movement he makes, but one factor in his prowess that stays the same is his strength, almost unrivalled and on skill par with Capcom's demon speed. Gallery Trivia *Arika Gottama was the first Immortal Fighter to be created, and since his conceptualisation in 2008 he has undergone countless changes to his character and story. *Arika is also the only Immortal Fighter to have a surname: Gottama. Although Bandai did bear the surname of Namco in the early days, it seems to have been dropped as of 2017. *Arika bears two scars: one across his face and one across his chest. The face scar came from his superpowered airfield battle with Bison while the body scar (visible only in flashes throughout the series) is from when he faked his death at the end of Season 2.